Selbuvott () is a knitted woolen

mitten A mitten is a type of glove that covers the hand but does not have separate finger openings or sheaths. Generally, mittens still separate the thumb from the other four fingers. They have different colours and designs. Mittens provide greater th ...

, based on a pattern from

Selbu Municipality Selbu is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mebonden. Other villages in Selbu include Flora, Trøndelag, Flora, Fossan ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Like all mittens, the purpose of selbuvott is to keep hands warm during winter, with one large space for fingers and a separate smaller section for the thumb. The pattern is a

Selburose In Norwegian knitting, a ''selburose'' () is a knitted rose pattern in the shape of a regular octagram. It is traditionally used for winter clothing such as the Selbu mitten (''selbuvott'') and sweaters ('' lusekofte, lopapeysa'' and '' mari ...

, which is a traditional rose from the Selbu area, shaped like an octagram. Marit Guldsetbrua Emstad first knitted the pattern into a pair of mittens in 1857, and sold mittens through Husfliden in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

in 1897. Selbuvott is possibly the most-worn knitted pattern in Norway.

Marriage tradition

Although traditionally only worked with two colors, patterns for these mittens could often be very intricate. Because of this, Selbuvott was used as a form of a

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

for young girls since selbuvott required an intense amount of time, care, and skilled practice in order to perfect the technique and get the desired look. A girl would start knitting these mittens from a very young age so that she could present them to her future husband and wedding guests.

Marriage tradition

See also

References

Further reading